The spirit of the Committee’s proposed objectives includes two central  themes:  The first was originated in Mary Richmond’s Social Diagnosis published in 1919.  Richmond encouraged social workers to use current technology in social work practice.  Many people were fearful of the telephone in 1919, but Richmond’s effort was a successful attempt to alleviate some anxiety.  Committee members want to reduce “technology anxiety” among BPD’s membership.  Anxiety reducing objectives are the prerequisite to transmission of knowledge to social work students.  Second, computer and electronic communications technology is constantly changing.  The committee members want to remain on the cutting edge of this technology in order to demonstrate to membership how this technology can be utilized for effective teaching and generalist practice.  These central themes can be found throughout our proposed objectives:
 

Teaching Objectives

1. To develop a resource list of ways in which BPD members, and their respective programs, utilize computers in the classroom.
• By developing a survey to be distributed Baccalaureate Programs.
• By analyzing the findings of the survey and sharing the results at further BPD meetings.
2. To maintain our online directory of resources which enable BPD members to share the information with social work students and graduates.
3. To develop and maintain a list of Internet resources which facilitate faculty research and classroom instruction (a sort of “whole earth” catalog of human service related sites and materials.)
4. To provide workshops on the integration of technology with each (CSWE) curriculum area.   Special subcommittees will be established with each curriculum area.
5. To provide workshops on the use and misuse of distance learning and multimedia technologies.  A special Subcommittee on Distance Learning and Multimedia will be formed and chaired by Dennis Cogswell.  Overall goal of subcommittee: Research and present current issues in web-based, distance education and multimedia.
6. To explore and develop a framework for evaluating social work related educational and practice web-based activities.
7. To provide individual consultation for BPD members via phone, email, fax, FAQ (on committee’s web site) and other still to be developed technology.
8. To provide instruction on development and management of listservs, web sites, NewsGroups, chat rooms, etc.

Technological Objectives

1. To assess the state of information technology for baccalaureate social work education.
• Bykeeping and sharing information about multimedia and distance learning.
• By including retaining and sharing information that is special for Mac users.
• By providing an on-line reference source for audio-visual materials appropriate for undergraduate social work instruction.
• By conducting a membership technology needs assessment at least every three years.  The survey will guide the direction of the committee's annual workshops.
2. To design educational events and workshops to address information technology needs as reflected in the above assessment.
3. To advise BSW program faculty and directors on appropriate software and hardware choices to address these same needs.
• By being available by phone and email to questions and have information about resources available on the committee’s web page.
• By maintaining a list of commercial software, including a description and cost of the product(s) and how these tools are used in the classroom.
4. To serve as consultants to help in problem-solving around specific information technology issues that arise within BPD.
• By being available for telephone consultation.
• By being available for E-mail consultation.  Because many questions are repeated, committee members have files for commonly asked questions [i.e., “How do I subscribe to ...?”]
5. To continue to coordinate the provision of free technical consultation that can assess the costs of hardware and software needs of member institutions that do not have E-mail available.

Expansion Objectives

1. To test techniques related to submission of CSWE Self Studies via the Internet.
2. To coordinate efforts to secure social work discussion groups in each state.
3. To continue to publish and disseminate information about electronic networking for social workers.
•  By submitting manuscripts to:
•  The Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work
•  BPD Update
•  BPD Forum
•  The Journal of Teaching Social Work
•  By writing and editing a monograph on use of electronic networking.
4. To develop ethical standards for use of electronic data transfer for undergraduate social work education and research.
5. Develop a system for voting for BPD membership.
6. Develop and maintain a committee web page.
7. Encourage the BPD membership to establish and train agency staff web skills.